One owner Parker

[Leighton Stallones]

I bought a nice VHE 20 ga from a friend of mine about 3 years ago.
His Father had bought it from A&F in 1932 and I have the records from the purchase and the factory letter which also included the original work order tag. My friend grew up in Michigan and they used it for grouse in the area. When he moved to San Antonio after inheriting the gun, he used it for Quail and dove in South Texas. After reaching near 90 years, he asked if I would be interested in it, which I was of course.

[Bill Murphy]

I've really never thought about how long my Granddad shot his old E Grade Lefever pigeon gun compared to how long I've been shooting it. He shot it from 1887 to 1929, 42 years. My uncle sent me the gun in 1957 when I was twelve years old. I have been shooting the gun for 54 years, twelve years longer than Granddad shot it. When I got the gun in 1957, my Dad was all atwitter about the "soft barrels", and told me I couldn't shoot factory shells in it. He had a friend on Staten Island, Bill Lea, who was a prolific antique gun collector. Bill sent me a set of BGI loading equipment, a roll crimper, an adjustable measure, and a decapping block, all of which I still have. I didn't know where to buy wads, so I used newspaper for wads and loaded shells for the Lefever which I shot on the skeet range like it was a normal thing to do. It wasn't long before the skeet committee at the club put me to work loading shells for the club and I found out about real card wads and fiber fillers. Bill Lea also sent me a very nice Francotte Grade 14 ejector gun with a blown right barrel and asked me if I could do anything with it. I knew Lefever would sleeve it for about $125, but I didn't think I would come out on top with a deal like that. I didn't have the nerve to ask for how much he would sell the gun to me. Foolishly, I sent the gun back to Mr. Lea with thanks. That was a bad decision. I think he meant to give me the gun, but I didn't know that at the time. My Dad's work place was full of gun people, at least I thought so. When I was eleven or twelve years old and on a trip to New York, Mr. Lea invited us to his home on the very end of the island and showed us guns for an afternoon. One that was most impressive was a Winchester Model 86 Deluxe in 50-110. He was nobody's shotgun guy. However, one of my Dad's work friends owned a Novotny A-1 Special. We exchanged letters about the gun but I never saw the gun or pictures of the gun. Fifty years later, through my "shooter research", I found that my Dad's friend and Mr. Novotny had shot together in Minnesota. Just about the time Ron Kirby was getting seriously into "Novotny Research", he left PGCA.

[charlie cleveland]

all the stories were fantastic...i agree with choose wisely whom you give yout treasures away.... charlie

[Bill Murphy]

I have Granddad's E Grade Lefever pigeon gun, special ordered, probably by him, in 1887. By 1887, he was 31 years old, a successful businessman in Hazleton, PA. There would be no reason, in my mind, that he would buy a used gun that just happened to be built as a pigeon gun. He was a cafe keeper and operated a pigeon shooting operation on Pine Street in Hazleton Heights. Sure, the gun could have been someone else's gun, but I'm fairly comfortable that it was his from birth. There is no way I can document this gun as a one owner-one family gun, except that my Dad, born in 1903, and his brother, born in 1899, told me that the Lefever is the only gun they remember their father ever shooting. Too darn bad it isn't a Parker. Granddad used the Lefever from 1887 to 1929, 42 years, a long time. I've used my first Parker since 1960, 51 years. My Dad never owned a Parker or a Lefever, unfortunately.

[Richard Flanders]

Good story Bill. Thanks. Our second family Parker could be a one owner gun but I doubt it. My brother has it. It's a 30" 2-frame VH12 with a very crude chainsaw job replacement stock and, thanks to me, the top rib separated on both sides for over 2" at the breech end. I used to reload very short light loads with my grandfathers old Winchester reloading kit and try to wingshoot sparrows in the hay fields in summer. I was about 14 at the time. One day the rib separated when I shot and rung my ears pretty good when it opened up at the breech a tad. I've never understood why it let loose but was/am glad I didn't have a full power load in there! My loads were about 2-1/4" long and very light and I'm very sure I didn't over load a shell; there just wasn't room to do so. It's never been fixed and I doubt ever will be. None of us has a clue from where or when my grandfather acquired it.

[Richard Flanders]

Great story Bill. There are some incredible Win 1886 deluxe models out there. I'd love to have a .50-110 for moose; the bigger the hole the better! I'm off today to try for one with my Win 1885 Hi wall .45-90.

[Bill Murphy]

I have a John Oberlies built High Wall in 45-70 that I would like to take to meet some game. It is a big rifle, could easily be bored or rebarrelled to a fifty caliber. Oberlies bought brand new barrels from Winchester to build his rifles, so rebarrelling would be a better alternative to reboring.

[Stu Williams]

Mine has always been in our family. A 1929 Trojan 20 ga that was my Grandfathers, and he gave it to me when I was 12. I used it when my Grandfather taught me to hunt dove and quail. So it is still a one family Parker, and I imagine many or most are still in their respective families. I fret over what to do with it after I am gone, I have 3 daughters that don't hunt or shoot (Well one goes to the skeet range with me and pulls). I have no nephews to leave it with either (I'm sure there might be a volunteer or two on the forum).
While it is a Parker (ok a trojan) the value to me is the time I spent using it to knock down dove and quail with my grandfather and it is just a bonus that it is a Parker.

[Autumn Daze]

Uncle Stu...Don't forget about me....

[Bill Murphy]

My Dad never owned a Parker, but he got me started with Parkers and watched with interest while I bought a few. His favorite gun was his Model 21 20 gauge 28" Skeet Grade. It is still in mint condition because he never carried it in the field and only shot a couple of rounds of skeet with it.